Fifth Generation Formation Flight

Posted 19 September 2012

TAGS:

Photo by MSgt. Jeremy T. Lock

An operational F-35A Lightning II and an operational F-22 Raptor were flown in formation for the first time on 19 September 2012. The F-35, piloted by Lt. Col. Lee Kloos, the commander of the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB Florida, met up with Col. Charles Corcoran, the commander of the 325th Operations Group flying an F-22 assigned to the 43rd FS at Tyndall AFB, Florida, at the Compass Lake training airspace near Tyndall. An Air Force photographer captured the event from the backseat of an F-16D, also assigned to Eglin. The aircraft were flown together over Tyndall, over Panama City, and then near Destin and Eglin before the pilots returned to their respective bases. The first F-35/F-22 formation flight, which used dedicated test aircraft, came in April 2011.

Comments

F-22 Articles
F-22 News
F-22 Video
F-22 Photos

View All Articles

Eric Hehs Retires
2/23/2016
Longtime Code One Editor Eric Hehs Calls It A Career

Inside Look At Design Evolution Of F-22
9/24/2015
The official beginning of the ATF program usually traces to 1981. But studies for an advanced tactical fighter began in the early 1970s.

F-22 Operations At JB Elmendorf-Richardson In Alaska
9/4/2015
The Elmo Raptor drivers are uniquely situated for both training and potential conflict areas.

Defining Fifth Generation Fighters
5/21/2015
The fifth generation of fighters, the F-22 and F-35, fundamentally changes the concept of operations for combat.

F-22 First Flight To Final Delivery
6/11/2012
The history of the F-22 program is still being written at the operational and training units, in flight testing of new capabilities, at the support centers, and upgrade and modernization programs that will come in future years.

Last Raptor Delivered
6/6/2012
A dramatic reveal of the last Raptor concluded the event. The immense metal doors of the B-1 building were raised to make public the sleek jet that had rolled off the F-22 assembly line at the opposite end of the building in December 2011.

ATF To Raptor 01 First Flight
2/28/2012
F-22 chronology covers the program from early studies to the first flight of the first production Raptor in 1997.

Keeping The Raptor Fit And Flying
11/8/2010
Given the vital role the F-22 performs in projecting air power and considering that the US Air Force will have 187 aircraft by the time production winds down in early 2012, maintaining the fleet and keeping Raptors flying are the new imperatives.

Where The Raptor Starts Its Day
3/3/2010
"Where America Starts Its Day." This slogan, appearing on T-shirts sold in tourist shops all over Guam, highlights the island’s distinction as the westernmost US territory and, hence, where day first breaks on America.

F-22 Heads To Kadena And Red Flag 
6/15/2007
F-22 Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing set new firsts in February as pilots and personnel took the US Air Force’s fifth-generation fighter from Langley AFB in Virginia to Kadena AB, Japan, and to Nellis AFB, Nevada.

View All News